A really enthralling read, such realistic characters, and I could never have guessed the ending.
Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for an advance copy of Let The Dead Speak, the seventh police procedural to feature Maeve Kerrigan.

18 year old Chloe Emery returns home to find blood all over the house and her mother, Kate, missing. Chloe is a bit slow so it is her neighbour, Oliver Norris, who calls the police and takes Chloe in. Although there is no body the amount of blood suggests foul play and the police launch a murder enquiry. Who would believe a suburban street in Putney could hide so many secrets?

It has been a few years since I read a novel in this series so it was like starting fresh and I can assure new readers that it works well as a stand alone with a clever plot and some interesting characters.

The plot has plenty of twists and turns with 2 very big twists, one of which I guessed almost immediately and then spent chapters wondering why the police were so slow to pick up on it, the second I didn't guess at all. Otherwise the team spend their time picking apart the lives of Kate and her neighbours, none of whom turn out to be pleasant individuals.

I like Maeve and the team. Her love/hate relationship with her immediate boss, Josh Derwent, is prickly and adds a bit of spice to the narrative. It is unusual to see a working relationship where home truths are the order of the day. I also liked newly promoted to sergeant Maeve's ambivalent attitude to newest team member DC Georgia Shaw, a shiny with an attitude problem. I think I'd have done a bit more than tell her that respect has to earned!

Let The Dead Speak with its fairly intricate plotting and sparky inter-personal dialogue is a good read and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Chloe is arriving home earlier than planned from a visit to her dads. When she gets home she doesn't find her mom Kate but an awful lot of blood.

May contain mild spoilers.

This is book seven to feature Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent. I have to say that they are my favourite crime solving duo. As always I'd say to read the series from the beginning. This is so that the reader can get to know both Maeve and Josh and see how their relationship is. They come across as if they really don't like each other but there are undercurrents there. For me I would like to see perhaps a kiss or even a bit more. Would this work out. Only Jane Casey, Maeve and Josh know the answers.

The plot was quite engaging. As always there is plenty going on with lots of twists turns and then twists again. I always the books this series as it progresses I think it gets better.

There isn't really anything I didn't like about this book as I always enjoy them which I do think is down to the two brilliant main characters.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the chance to read and review the book.

This is another good instalment in a fine series. I find Casey's writing compulsive; her prose is unflashy and very readable, but she can create a fine sense of suspense and her plotting is extremely skilful. Maeve and the other characters Casey creates are generally very believable, too and the whole adds up to a gripping narrative.

This time the team are confronted with a bloodstained house and a young woman whose mother is missing, so it's not even clear whether a murder has been committed. The plot develops well, with surprises but no ridiculously implausible "twists," and it's a very engrossing and satisfying read.

This can be read as a stand-alone book, but it's probably best if you have read at least some of the previous Maeve Kerrigan novels. Either way, I can recommend this to both newcomers and old fans. You won't be disappointed.

I enjoyed the book, it was well written and got into the characters immediately.

An 18-year-old arrives home to find blood everywhere and her mum is missing. Is it murder? Maeve and Derwent - great name - have as conundrum on their hands. The subject matter isn't nice of course but with humour and sarcasm thrown in this becomes a lively tale of whodunit and how. What with a twist here and there and the odd controversial comment I found Let the dead speak thoroughly absorbing. Well done, Jane.

Another one-sitting read from Casey, though best approached in relation to the earlier books in the series. The plot is a complex one that explores the sometimes twisted and perverse nature of love between lovers and within families, not uncharted territory for crime fiction but always approached by Casey with a mix of empathy and a chillingly cool eye.

That said, long term fans may find the relationship between Maeve and Derwent seems to be suffering a slight form of book amnesia: at one point she tells a colleague that she never trusts him - surely those of us who have been following this series know perfectly that when Maeve is really in trouble Derwent is the *only* person she trusts; and that when he underwent his own trial by fire earlier in the series, she believed in him utterly? Of course, theirs is a complicated relationship and with more latent, at least on his side, than can be spoken out loud (though, as usual, there are some fine giveaway moments) - still, an odd vibe.

Nevertheless, this remains one of my favourite crime series: for the unobtrusively smooth writing, but mostly for the fine characterisations that give the books real personality and emotional depth oh, and the snarky humour that balances even the grimmest scenes with something wayward and authentic.

LET THE DEAD SPEAK

by

Jane Casey


With the abundance of thrillers and the popularity of the genre it must be extremely hard for writers to find a new approach when writing. Jane Casey has produced a different slant in this excellent tale.
Chloe, a most attractive teenager is what we would have called ‘slow’. She returns home early in a foul mood after visiting her father and stepmother. The stepmother, typical of those featured in fairy tales, resents Chloe and has been her usual critical self so Chloe walks out without a word and comes home to a house of horror. Blood splatters the walls of the house with sticky pools here and there on the floor. Her mother, Kate is nowhere to be found despite searches by police and dogs no trace of her is found.
Chloe is taken in reluctantly by her younger friend, Bethany’s parents, a fanatically religious family, in a house with a strange atmosphere and a rather unusual set up.
Most of the book is told from Detective Maeve Kerrigan’s point of view, a character known to readers of the series. She is not the usual hardbitten cynical copper often seen in such books. Rather we see a sensitive, kind, caring and impulsive young woman with a certain vulnerability who often acts without thinking, sailing near the wind with the rules, putting herself and the investigation at risk. There is tension between herself, Georgia, a new graduate trainee and Detective Inspector Derwent with whom there are suggestions of background relationships.
The characters are varied with a variety contrasting traits that intensify the atmosphere of the story.
How can you investigate a murder when there is no body? The team are met with lies and deceit from every quarter and are struggling to get reliable leads. Then there is another murder and on this occasion there is a body. Prior to this the story lagged a bit with long conversations and friction between the officers and their suspects. I felt some of the dialogue was unnatural.
After the discovery of a body the book gained in tension and speed and became a really exciting read with totally unexpected twists and turns. The finale was a total surprise but a satisfying one.

Brilliant. Jane Casey is a brilliant crime writer and this book lives up to all its promises. Maeve Kerrigan is at her best as always. A novel with plenty of drama right up until the last page. I would definitely recommend this book and eagerly await another one by this author.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Secondly, what a great book!
How have I never read any Jane Casey books before? Now I have discovered her I will definitely be reading more!
I won't go into the plotline - that is what the description is for - but I will say this:
Let the Dead Speak was gripping, (literally in some parts, my poor Kindle!), the story was tense and well told. The main characters are believable and likeable (the same cannot be said for some of the suspects though!). I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and have been recommending to all.
I am looking forward to reading some more Jane Casey books now....

What a fantastic book. An unputdownable, nerve tingling cracker of a story.

With a vast web of evil and a race against the clock. This is well worth a read.

This is an interesting multi layered story following the investigation of a crime with an interesting twist towards the end. There are several storylines involving the families involved and the investigators which increases the interest. I do think that the end where the investigation makes an error is rather glossed over. It seems unlikely that members of the detective team would make this mistake and then the consequences are minimal. This felt a little unrealistic. However, it added to the story. I enjoyed it.
Would I recommend it to my book group? Probably not. It's not quite demanding enough.

It's such a thrill when you find a new author. I shall have a wonderful time catching up on the rest of the series. A house is like a blood bath as the daughter arrives home but there's no body. DI Derwent and DS Kerrigan have to figure out this strange incident. I loved the rapport between Derwent and Kerrigan - banter with an edge of flirtatiousness. Such a lot of humour. I loved it. They are a good team in some ways although neither quite trusts each other as they know each other so well. Kate, the owner of the house is missing and her daughter who is supposedly simple is put in with a family nearby. The book is not short of suspects which makes it exciting and frustrating in equal measures. I must confess it highlights what a seriously dangerous jobs the police do and the decisions and checking out every possible shred of evidence and information that could lead to a solved crime. A tense, unexpected ending.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. It took a few days but I really enjoyed it. The plot and the twists where brilliant. There was a lot of suspects to choose from, the storyline was very good, I think this would make a great movie. Definitely worth 5 stars

Let the dead speak is the first book I have read in the Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey, and although this is the 5th or 6th book in this series it in no way prevented me from enjoying this book very much.
Maeve is a Detective Sgt and her immediate superior is Det. inspector Josh Derwent, and the relationship ( professional) between the two has obviously been developed over the previous books.
This is a cracking murder mystery with a host of characters of whom from moment to moment I was convinced who the murderer was but then kept getting my mind changed by the great storyline. It romps along at a cracking pace.
A great read and how lucky am I that thanks to Net galley and publisher I have now discovered a new author whose back catalogue I cannot wait to read.